Home for the Holidays Ch. 03

I turned, ready to go and sit next to Bekka and try to talk to her when I saw the scornful look she threw me. It put my back up.

"Where'd you find the guy to bring you here, Kenna? Did you have to pay him?"

She'd said it low enough that Mom hadn't heard it, but I did. My eyes narrowed and I sat down in the chair next to her, reaching out to pat her hand. "Nope, and I didn't steal him from anyone else, either."

"Is he gay?"

She was really trying to get to me, but I refused to let it happen. "Nope. He's not engaged, either."

"So what's wrong with him that he's with you?"

"You know, Bekka," I started to say and then shut up. If I said anything at all in my defense, it would only look as if she were getting to me. "They say you should only gain about fifteen pounds over the baby's birth weight. You look as if you're having a baby elephant."

"Bitch!" she hissed, dropping the sugar cookie she'd just picked up to nibble on.

"Yes, aren't I though?" I stood and smiled down at her, feeling as if I'd won a round.

"Kenna, could you get the big Thermos out of the pantry and fill it with coffee and then make another pot?" Mom called from the stove, where she was just putting in another tray of cookies. "I have to go get a box from the cellar."

"Oh, Mom, have Steven do it, he's not doing anything else," I said. I walked away from the table and went into the pantry, breathing in the familiar spices.

The Thermos was on the top shelf and I got out the small ladder, standing on the top of it. Still, I wasn't quite tall enough to reach the Thermos so I put a foot on one of the shelves, feeling the ladder shake under me.

Grabbing hold of another shelf, I tried to lift myself up just a bit more, until my fingers could brush against the thing. A commotion in the kitchen startled me and I jerked, feeling the ladder slip. A shriek left my lips. I was falling!